Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

As we heard in the course of this debate last evening, there exists strongly and sincerely held views on this issue in all parties in the Dáil, including my own, and among the Irish people. I commend everyone who has participated in the debate on the manner in which the debate has been conducted.

While people may hold their own personal views, values and beliefs, we were elected as legislators in this Dáil, and with that come responsibilities. As elected representatives and legislators it is important that we act to deal with the huge difficulties caused for women and medical professionals in this State by the current absence of legislation.

It is important that we recall the circumstances that brought us to this pass. Twenty years ago, in 1992, a 14 year old girl, a child, became pregnant as a result of rape and was suicidal. The Government refused to allow the girl and her parents to travel abroad for an abortion. There was a huge public outcry and thousands of people took to the streets to protest. The case went to court and the Supreme Court ruled that "a termination of pregnancy is lawful if it can be shown that there is a real and substantial risk to the life, as distinct from the health, of the mother which can only be avoided by terminating the pregnancy; a threat of suicide can amount to a substantial risk to the life of the mother".

In 2002 the Government sought to overturn the Supreme Court judgment and, with others, Sinn Féin campaigned against what was to be the 25th amendment to the Constitution. That referendum was defeated by the people. At that stage, there was a clear recognition that the matter at hand was not a black and white issue but a difficult and complex decision faced by women with crisis pregnancies.

Since then, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that this State violates the rights of pregnant women. That ruling makes clear that there is an onus on this State to legislate under the terms of the 1937 Constitution and the decision in the X case.

Sinn Féin does not argue for what is termed abortion on demand. We strongly believe that all possible means of education and support services must be in place for women and girls with crisis pregnancies. However, in the case of rape, incest or sexual abuse or where a woman's life and mental health is at risk or in grave danger, Sinn Féin accepts that the final decision must rest with the woman.

Sinn Féin has analysed the Bill and a number of serious concerns have been raised about aspects of it. Some of these concerns were echoed in the comments of the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, during his speech last night. These are issues which need to be discussed properly in a considered manner and with maximum cross-party consensus to produce legislation. Sinn Féin believes the Bill should be allowed to proceed to Committee Stage at which point it can be discussed and amended.

Governments have failed to deal with this issue for 20 years. They have ignored the reality faced by thousands of Irish women. Last night, the Minister, Deputy Reilly, made it clear that the Government must take action to deal with this long overdue responsibility. He has given an assurance that the expert group will deal expeditiously with the very complex issues involved. That is most welcome. What is certain is that it is time for legislation to be finally enacted to protect the rights of women, as decided by the Supreme Court in 1992. It is time now for the Dáil, and for us as legislators, to do what is right by Irish women.

See this speech in context